Isabella Carter
The poverty of the stimulus is a theory in language studies that argues that the linguistic input received by young children is insufficient to explain their detailed knowledge of their first language. The concept, also known as the argument from the poverty of the stimulus (APS), suggests that people must be born with an innate ability to learn a language. The term was coined by Noam Chomsky in 1980, and it has been used to reinforce his theory of universal grammar, which posits that all languages share some common tenets. The poverty of stimulus argument has been a topic of debate in linguistics, with critics proposing alternative models that suggest language acquisition may be less difficult than previously thought.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Term Coined By | Noam Chomsky |
| Term Coined In | 1980 |
| Other Names | Plato's Problem, Logical Problem of Language Acquisition, Projection Problem |
| Definition | Linguistic input received by young children is insufficient to explain their detailed knowledge of their first language |
| Theory | Humans are born with a theory of language, or an innate ability to learn a language |
| Examples | Children are not taught all the nuances of when to apply a particular rule and when not to, yet they correctly choose the appropriate time to apply it |
| Critics | Critics argue that children have enough evidence from their parents' speech and social context to learn language |
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Linguistic nativism
The poverty of the stimulus argument is a central tenet of the broader argument for linguistic nativism. It is the claim that children are not exposed to rich enough data within their linguistic environments to acquire every feature of their language without innate language-specific cognitive biases. The term was coined by Noam Chomsky in 1980, and it is also known as the argument from the poverty of the stimulus (APS), the logical problem of language acquisition, the projection problem, and Plato's problem.
Chomsky's argument for the innateness of language is that humans are not exposed to all structures of their language, yet they fully achieve knowledge of these structures. This is because, according to Chomsky, the speed and precision of vocabulary acquisition leave no real alternative to the conclusion that the child already has the concepts available before their experience with language. In other words, they are basically learning labels for concepts that are already a part of their conceptual apparatus.
Critics of the poverty of stimulus argument, such as Pullum and Scholz, argue that linguists need not suppose that children are innately endowed with "specific contingent facts about natural languages". They also provide evidence that, contrary to what Chomsky asserts, children can expect to encounter plenty of data that would alert them to the falsity of H1. Furthermore, critics point out that there has been little systematic attempt to provide empirical evidence supporting the argument's assertions about what primary linguistic data (PLD) contain.
In conclusion, the poverty of the stimulus argument is a controversial theory that has been influential in the field of linguistics. It has been used to support Chomsky's theory of universal grammar and the idea that humans are born with an innate ability to learn language. However, there are also several criticisms of the argument, including the claim that children have enough evidence from their parents' speech and social context to learn language.
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Universal grammar
The poverty of the stimulus argument is a theory in linguistics that revolves around the idea that language is infinite, and although infinite systems should be unlearnable, humans still manage to learn language. This argument is closely related to the concept of Universal Grammar, which posits that there is an innate, genetically-endowed cognitive capacity specific to language. The term "poverty of the stimulus" was coined by Noam Chomsky in 1980, in his work "Rules and Representations".
One of the key arguments in support of Universal Grammar is the poverty of the stimulus. This argument stems from the observation that language acquisition in children often surpasses the input they receive from their environment. Children are not exposed to all the structures and nuances of language, yet they rapidly develop a comprehensive understanding of their first language. This suggests that there must be an innate component to language acquisition, as the stimulus or input they receive is insufficient to explain their mastery of language.
The poverty of the stimulus argument has been used to reinforce Chomsky's theory of Universal Grammar, which proposes that all languages share some common tenets. According to Chomsky, children learn language too quickly and with too few errors to attribute their acquisition solely to rewards and corrections. He argues that some aspects of language learning must be innate, enabling children to inherently understand certain grammatical rules and structures without explicit instruction.
However, the theory of Universal Grammar and the poverty of the stimulus argument are not universally accepted by linguists. Critics have pointed out that some languages and language learners seem to contradict Chomsky's models. For example, the Pirahã language in the Amazon and the learning patterns of pidgin and Creole languages do not conform to the predictions of Universal Grammar. Additionally, there is ongoing debate about the nature of the constraints on the learning mechanism and whether Universal Grammar is truly inborn.
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Innatism
The "'Poverty of the Stimulus Argument', also known as POSA, is the best-known argument in favour of the innatism of certain mental structures. The term was coined by Noam Chomsky in 1980, and it is widely used in cognitive science and linguistics.
The general idea behind POSA is that the knowledge required to develop a certain cognitive capacity, particularly in language acquisition, far exceeds the information available in the environment. This gap between the poverty of the input and the richness of the output suggests that the organism must contribute innate information. For example, children learn their first language with no explicit instruction and little effort, and the information available to them is fairly limited. They are not exposed to all the structures of their language, yet they fully achieve knowledge of these structures. This is supported by the fact that learning a second language as an adult requires a significant time commitment, and the end result rarely reaches native proficiency.
POSA has been used to reinforce Chomsky's theory of universal grammar, the idea that all languages share some common tenets. According to Chomsky, children learn language too quickly and with too few errors for this to be explained solely by a system of rewards and corrections. This suggests that humans are hard-wired with a universal grammar, and that language acquisition involves fitting the details of a particular mother tongue into a pre-existing framework.
However, the argument that the poverty of the stimulus supports the innateness hypothesis remains controversial. Opponents of universal grammar argue that children have enough evidence from their parents' speech and social context to learn language. Some theorists, such as Tomasello, propose that children learn language without the aid of any inborn linguistic information. Instead, they bring innate skills like 'mind reading' and cognitive abilities that are employed in various domains, including language learning.
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Insufficient input
The poverty of the stimulus is a concept in linguistics that asserts that children are not exposed to sufficient data within their linguistic environments to acquire every feature of their language without innate language-specific cognitive biases. The term was coined by Noam Chomsky in 1980, and it is closely related to his theory of universal grammar, which suggests that all languages have some tenets in common.
The poverty of the stimulus argument, also known as the Argument from the Poverty of the Stimulus (APS), claims that the input children receive is insufficient for language acquisition. This is because children are only exposed to positive evidence and are not given explicit correction or instruction about what is not possible in the language. The input they receive is also limited in scope and quality, with children exposed to speech errors, utterances by non-native speakers, and false starts, which can obscure the underlying grammatical structure of the language.
The degeneracy of scope means that the input does not contain information about the full extent of any grammatical rules. For example, children are not taught all the nuances of when to apply a particular rule and when they might not, yet they correctly choose the appropriate time to apply that rule. This is an argument for the innateness hypothesis, which suggests that humans are hard-wired with a universal grammar. However, this hypothesis remains controversial, with critics arguing that children have much more evidence than Chomsky thinks, including special modes of speech by parents ('Motherese') that make linguistic distinctions clearer.
The poverty of the stimulus argument has been used to explain how native speakers form a capacity to identify possible and impossible interpretations through ordinary experience. It suggests that language acquisition is not merely a matter of associating word strings with interpretations but that there must be some innate, biological mechanism that allows children to learn language. This idea is supported by the fact that learning a second language as an adult is much more difficult and rarely achieves native proficiency.
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Language acquisition
The poverty of the stimulus is a theory in language acquisition that argues that the linguistic input received by children is insufficient to explain their knowledge of a first language. This theory, also known as the argument from the poverty of the stimulus (APS), was popularised by Noam Chomsky, who introduced the expression "poverty of the stimulus" in his book *Rules and Representations*. Chomsky's argument has been influential in the fields of linguistics and cognitive science, but it has also faced resistance, particularly from philosophers.
Chomsky's poverty of the stimulus argument centres around the idea that children learn language too quickly and with too few errors for their knowledge to be explained solely by the linguistic input they receive. This argument is based on several observations about the language acquisition process. Firstly, children are only exposed to positive evidence, meaning they do not receive explicit correction or instruction on language rules. Secondly, the input children receive is limited in scope and quality, as they are exposed to a random subset of short sentences that may include speech errors and utterances by non-native speakers. This degeneracy of scope and quality can obscure the underlying grammatical structure of the language. Additionally, each child encounters a unique set of linguistic data, leading to idiosyncratic language learning experiences even within a particular language.
The poverty of the stimulus argument has been used to support the theory of linguistic nativism, which posits that humans are born with some innate knowledge of language, or universal grammar. Chomsky and other proponents of this theory argue that children must have prior information about how languages are organised, allowing them to quickly fit the details of their mother tongue into a pre-existing framework. This hypothesis is supported by research findings, such as the observation that eight-month-old children demonstrate language acquisition preferences similar to those of adults, suggesting that certain generalisations are "hardwired" into human language acquisition mechanisms.
However, the poverty of the stimulus argument has also faced several criticisms. Some researchers, such as Geoffrey Pullum, have challenged the empirical basis of the argument, and recent work in neural network architectures has questioned the necessity of an explicit constraint for learning hierarchical structures. Additionally, opponents of universal grammar argue that children have more linguistic evidence than Chomsky suggests, including special modes of speech by parents ("Motherese") that facilitate language learning.
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Frequently asked questions
The poverty of stimulus argument is the claim that children are not exposed to rich enough data within their linguistic environments to acquire every feature of their language without innate language-specific cognitive biases.
The theory of poverty of stimulus, also known as the argument from the poverty of the stimulus (APS), is the idea that the linguistic input received by young children is insufficient to explain their detailed knowledge of their first language, and so people must be born with an innate ability to learn a language.
The term "poverty of the stimulus" was coined by Noam Chomsky in 1980, although the concept is directly linked to another Chomskyan approach named Plato's Problem, which he outlined in 1965.
